Vodafone takes its responsibility for the protection of children and young people very seriously and is the first German mobile communications provider to offer additional protection mechanisms for mobile phones. In December, Vodafone will be introducing two innovative protective mechanisms - an access block to prevent children from accessing content that is rated as 16+, and an additional access control mechanism to prevent children from accessing 'adult content' on the Vodafone live!-portal.

Both protective mechanisms will enable parents to determine which content the mobile phone user should be able to access and which - e.g. erotic services - should be blocked. When the block is in place, content that is rated as 16+ is not displayed on the Vodafone live! portal. Vodafone customers can set up the access blocks free of charge on the Vodafone live! portal.

What's more, adults will only be able to access 'adult content' on the Vodafone live! portal by entering a special PIN. Vodafone contract customers aged 18 and over can register with their customer password for a special access PIN to be sent to their mobile phone via text message. Each time they want to access adult content, they have to enter their PIN. This ensures the optimum protection of children from adult content.

Vodafone's concept for restricted access to adult content has been submitted to the Commission for Youth Media Protection for evaluation. According to the commission, if the concept is appropriately implemented, it will satisfy statutory requirements when used in normal operations.